Julian Edelman refutes report about Rob Gronkowski's alleged party animal reputation
Rob Gronkowski is an enigma. While most fans think of his countless catches and thrilling touchdown celebrations, others remember Gronkowski for his party-animal persona. Former Patriots star Julian Edelman set the record straight on Gronkowski when a recent story went too far.
The story came from another former teammate, defensive end Jake Bequette. The 34-year-old played in eight games for the Patriots between 2012 and 2013. While Bequette’s statistics are nothing to gawk at, his story about Gronkowski was undoubtedly magnificent.
“We all had these key fobs that gave us 24/7 access to the Patriots facility there in Foxborough, and during the offseason, Gronk would go out all night with his boys in Boston, stay up till 3 or 4 in the morning, whatever it was, and have his crew drop him off at the Patriots facility,” Bequette said on “Prime Time with Alex Stein.”
“He would, like, stagger in to the Patriots locker room, key fob in, and go pass out on the training tables in the Patriots training room,” Bequette recalled. “After a couple hours, he would just wake up like Frankenstein revived and go out there and just kick a**.”
Although the narrative is entertaining, Edelman claimed it isn’t the truth.
“Story is BS. Everyone wants to paint Gronk as a party animal. When in reality he was one of the most dedicated teammates I had,” Edelman wrote on Twitter.
Edelman certainly had more experience with Gronkowski than Bequette. The talented Patriots receiving pair spent nine seasons together from 2010 to 2018. In that time, Edelman and Gronkowski won three Super Bowls with the help of NFL legend Tom Brady.
Both Gronkowski and Edelman are now retired, but they remain around the sport. Edelman is an analyst for “Inside the NFL,” and was nominated for a Sports Emmy in 2022 for his first season on the show.
Gronkowski is doing just fine, as well. The five-time Pro Bowler joined Fox Sports in October 2022 as an analyst for the remainder of the NFL season. Gronkowski appeared on both “Fox NFL Sunday” and “Fox NFL Kickoff.”
While Gronkowski is now a working man, he still finds plenty of time for play. In January, the 34-year-old hosted his own Music Festival, Gronk Beach, during Super Bowl weekend. There’s no denying Gronkowski likes to have fun, but Edelman insists that fun never came at the cost of the team.